STEMNET Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network

On Tuesday I did a workshop with some year 9 pupils about why they might consider doing a degree. Making kids consider these things very carefully is more important now than it ever has been before, with ever increasing fees leaving everyone wondering whether the debt is worth it.

In an attempt to answer this question I asked twitter's vast academic community;  "If you spoke to your 14 year old self today, would you tell them to take the same path, despite the current financial climate?" The answers were almost invariably yes. I've collated some of the responses here:

• “yes, couldn't imagine being happy doing anything else.”
• “Yes, I'd tell my 14 year old self to do this. I am very lucky!”
• “I guess you could see academia as a career, but I always saw it as an alternative to the square career-pursuit lifestyle.”
•  “I would encourage me to love myself and my inner nerd.”
• “In my experience, a PhD is an exciting (and humbling) path to many things, not just academia. Love it."
• “I'd advise my 14 year old self to take the same circuitous path I took.”
• “Absolutely. Maybe it helps that my path was a little crooked and I always did things that sounded like fun.”
• “I'd definitely suggest university. I left school & trained as a plumber. Hated it, went to evening classes then did access course, degree, MA, PhD & am now an academic. University completely transformed my life :-)”
• “Your happiness and the acquisition of knowledge is more important than money.”
• “Yes, absolutely. My path wasn't "normal". Uni at 21; quit after 2 years; started again etc. I'm 33 tomorrow and Lecturer.”
• “Yes! of course -- I'd rather find it difficult to get a job that I love, than easy to find one that I hate!”
• “Yes - it's the path my 14 year old self took which got me here.”
• “I totally would, despite the chance I may never finish my doctorate.”
• “Definitely - I was told I wd never pass an exam when I was 14.”

I went on to ask: "Do you think your 14 year old self would believe you that you now have a phd?" The responses followed:

• “No - in fact my 25-year-old self wouldn't have believed it! (tbh I hardly believe it now!)”
• “Even my 35-year-old self wouldn't have believed it :)”
• “i think i knew that early that i wanted to teach. what, how, where, and why are constantly evolving.”
• “I have absolutely no recollection of what 14-yr-old me wanted. To be an artist, maybe? Or a programmer?”
• “my 14 year old self was being told to leave school at 16 as they were considered 'thick'.They wouldn't know what a PhD was ;-)”
• “14 year old self would also say 'academics are all weird' and i would agree.”
• “14 year old self would not believe me if I told her I would do this.”
• “My 14 yr old self would probably be pretty upset I haven't become a successful novelist and that I'm not even doing my PhD in literary studies”
• "My advice to 14 year olds is what I tell prospective PhDs: do what you love, and you'll do well for yourself."

I think the recurring themes are generally that people's aspirations change, that successful academics are the ones who did what the loved, rather than the ones who chased the money, and that early failure is irrelevant to, or even necessary for, future success. Thanks to everyone who answered the questions, they show really good messages for kids thinking about academia as a career path.

Around the same time as I was asking these questions on twitter, I noticed the #iamscience hashtag started by Kevin Zelnio with which scientists were expressing the story of how they ended up as a scientist. Mindy Weisberger collated the responses in a video which can be seen here: http://vimeo.com/35829872. A lot of the same themes are raised and it is definitely worth a watch.